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Please go make this recipe for the best dang gluten free keto Irish Soda Bread! This recipe is magically delicious (can’t you just imagine the little Lucky Charms leprechaun singing that). It has a few simple ingredients and bakes in only 30 minutes. Seriously, it is that easy and it tastes good.
Taste and authenticity are key to my recipe adventures. I want to eat like the old days with comfort and staple foods that taste GOOD. And I want you to serve your friends and family food that tastes good too!
It’s magically delicious!
Gluten-Free Keto Irish Soda Bread
Safe for the GF Keto people in your life and tasty for everyone.
Blah blah blah…I have celiac. It’s tiring sometimes, even still after all these years. So many times I just want to be NORMAL and eat whatever everyone else has, but that’s just not always possible. So when I crave something and can’t buy it anywhere my creativity starts flowing in the kitchen and the #GFFoodScience!
Irish Soda bread is something people in the US often only eat during St. Patrick’s day — unless you have some Irish culture flowing in your life! But it doesn’t have to be that way! It is a ridiculously simple recipe. And the kind of recipe where everyone and their grannie has a variation. Some are sweeter with currants or orange zest, some are savory with caraway seed, and some are just plain whole grain flours – you get the idea.
Once you get the hang of the simple steps you can make your own variations — and trust me you will! In testing the recipe for this post I made countless loaves! I haven’t tired of it yet.
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Gluten Free… & Keto… & Tasty…& Easy? Yes, It Is Possible!
Yes, it’s easy -and there are countless variations and techniques for this recipe- but to get this GF Keto version to turn out authentically you need to follow a few guidelines and have a few tricks up your sleeve. I made a few bricks while testing, that’s not what we want! You need to get this GF Keto loaf to RISE. But don’t worry, I got you, I did the testing so you can rest easy.
Soda bread doesn’t have yeast, unlike traditional bread. Instead, the baking soda is activated by the acid in the buttermilk to create air bubbles that make it rise.
Because I like to keep it real – you can see my perfectly imperfect test loaves here. Yes, I make crap sometimes but I test these recipes so that you don’t have to suffer. You are welcome!
Gluten Free Keto Irish Soda Bread FAILS below:
Even when this gluten free keto Irish soda bread is baked to perfection you need to prepare yourself – if you want a big old fluffy loaf this is not it, – this little baby is craggy, flat, and dense. But it should not be like sawdust, a brick, tasteless, or any other sort of nastiness we don’t deserve. It should be crusty, with a nice crumb, a little bit moist, and most of all…tasty.
I tried to make this as close to the “real” version as can be but PEOPLE this is GF Keto so adjust your expectations just a tad, OK? I fed this to regular eaters and they all loved it though!
And I think I nailed it – just look at that crusty golden goodness below!
Making this Gluten Free Keto Irish Soda Bread is Super Easy.
Measure the dry ingredients
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup psyllium husk powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2-1 tsp salt
- 2 T sugar granulated sugar substitute
- 2 T butter diced in small pieces (ok, it’s not dry but it goes here, oK!)
I tested lots of different flour blends. And guess what? It didn’t create drastically different loaves. So, it is easy for you to adjust and use what you have on hand. If you don’t have Almond Flour, use a GF Keto flour you DO have! Most GF Keto flours are high protein, fat, and low carb so the results tended to be the same. However, my personal favorite is the almond flour version.
Ok so the type of GF Keto flour isn’t a big deal, but RATIOS do MATTER! I tested a lot of different ratios of ingredients in the attempt to get the flavor, texture, and lift I wanted. Now, this is where following the recipe did matter. Remember the brick? I made that disaster when I attempted to make the bread “less moist” – because a few batches turned out with the texture of zucchini bread (they tasted great though but more on that later) – I used too much flour to liquid ratio and created a sawdust brick – blech!
A note about psyllium husk powder:
Psyllium husk powder serves a few masters in this recipe. It acts as a binder, adds a good rustic wheaty essence to the flavor, and the fiber fills you up and is super good for your gut.
Psyllium husk has been proven to improve the texture of GF breads, it holds in moisture and keeps them from being crumbling disasters.
If you don’t have it, don’t like the taste, or don’t want to use it, you can eliminate it and replace it with xanthan gum or another binder (chia, flax, guar gum).
Once all the dry ingredients are in the bowl I give my Kitchen Aid mixer a blast to aerate and blend those all together.
More Ingredient tipes
Use whatever GF Keto Flour Blend you have on hand for the “flour” part of this recipe, results were all pretty standard.
However, follow the other ingredients and ratios until you get a handle on your recipe preferences!
Measure the wet ingredients
- 1/2 cup + 2 T buttermilk
- 1 egg
In a large glass measuring cup, measure the buttermilk. You need the acid from the buttermilk to react to the soda so don’t skip buttermilk (see tips if you don’t have any on hand). Then drop in 1 large room temperature egg and whip it a bit.
TIP:
To create your own buttermilk replacement just add lemon or vinegar to regular milk and let it set about 5 minutes (1 cup milk: 1 Tbs acid like lemon or vinegar). You can also use sour cream or yoghurt instead of milk.Warming the ingredients helps them to combine and reach maximum volume. So make sure your eggs, buttermilk are all room tempish. And your oven is HOT. Speed up warming the egg by putting the whole egg in a bowl of hot water.
Quickly mix dry & wet ingredients together:
Now you need to put these two together to make some doughy magic. You want to do this quickly because the soda starts reacting right away with the buttermilk to start getting that lift we want.
Do NOT overmix this, you just need it to come together. It should be a few quick stirs, that’s all it needs. I blast my mixer for a few seconds or so.
PLOP the Batter on a Prepared Pan
Have your pan ready to go by greasing it up (use the butter wrapper). I like a 6″x 2″ round pan. The sides on this little pan are perfect to get it to climb a bit. But you can use anything really – some people use a cast-iron skillet, others a pizza stone, a baking sheet, etc.
I used a pizza stone to make the biscuit shaped ones in this picture.
And a popover pan for these:
Now, listen, Irish Soda bread is rustic and craggy and crusty so don’t pretty up this loaf. Just plop it right out of the bowl into the pan and leave it. You can kind of push it to the edges if needed. But don’t tap it or whack it or flatten it or you are deflating our lovely lift!
If you are familiar with the classic version you’ll see a cross cut through the top. Some say it’s to help the bread bake evenly, some say it’s a religious cross, and some even say it’s to let the fairies out. You don’t need to do this for this GF Keto version but feel free to do it if you want that look. Just bake 5 minutes first, then it will cut through easily.
Bake that Gluten Free Keto Irish Soda baby!
Preheat your oven to 400o and make sure it is piping hot before putting it in the oven. Pay attention because this is one of the key tricks -you need to start your oven at a higher temperature, this gets all that science reacting in the oven, #GFFoodScience! The high heat causes all those little air bubbles to expand.
So pop that bad boy in the oven at the 400o high temp for 15 minutes. The second part of this trick is to turn the oven down so the inside gets done before you burn your crusty loaf. After 15 minutes turn your oven down to 350o to finish for another 15 minutes.
Let me remind you, gently, that every oven is different, you know yours (or maybe you don’t but are about to find out)! Pay attention to it, it may need less it, it may need more – don’t go far from your oven! You’ll know it is done when you can smell its loveliness and it is golden brown and crusty (you can check it with a knife inserted coming out clean also).
Cool it on a rack, loosen the edges with a knife and invert a plate over the top to free it.
If you are baking them biscuit-style you can bake them at 400o for just about 15-18 minutes, depending on the size of your blobs. I preheat my pizza stone and popover pans and then blob the dough right on, leaving it all craggy and perfectly mountainy for the butter to melt into when it’s done!
Gluten Free Keto Irish Soda Bread
Tip Summary and Ingredient Subs
- You can use whatever GF Keto flour blend you have. Almond four gives really great results though!
- If you don’t use Psyllium Husk Powder, add 1-1/2 teaspoons of xanthan gum (if your GF flour blend has it already then omit it).
- You can sub the buttermilk but it has to be with an acid to react with the baking soda – so use lemon/vinegar with milk/sour cream/yogurt.
- I didn’t test any vegan versions but you can try to sub with your usual #VeganScience tricks (there are some vegan versions on the interwebs).
- Don’t overmix it at all – just let it come together and just plop it in the pan.
- Preheat your oven piping hot to 400o
- Bake it hot for 15 minutes then turn your oven down to 350o for another 15 minutes.
That’s all there is to it. Impress your friends. Heck Impress Yourself!
Once you get the hang of this, it is super easy to create all kinds of variations. Try adding a handful of currents, orange zest, and a bit more sweetener. Or try caraway seeds pressed into the top. Try different flour blends to get different flavors. If you can take some carbs try it with some oat flour! I used the day old popover size biscuits, cut in half and toasted with butter and cinnamon sugar (Allulose) — oh my word it was tasty!
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4.34 from 3 votes
The Best Gluten Free Keto Irish Soda Bread
This recipe is magically delicious – it creates perfect Irish soda bread or biscuits. They are tender and crumbly and crunchy and moist and all things delicious. It whips up in minutes flat and bakes in less than 30 minutes. A great go-to every night kind of bread alternative.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Cuisine: gluten free, keto
Keyword: gluten free bread, gluten free irish soda bread, irish soda bread, keto bread
Servings: 8
Calories: 300kcal
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups Almond Flour I use Bob's Red Mill or Trader Joe's
- 1/4 cup psyllium husk powder NOT husks! Alternately replace with 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum.
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2-1 tsp salt I like salt so I use the full tsp, but adjust accordingly!
- 2 T sugar free keto sweetener Optional, can be omitted
- 2 tbsp butter Cut or forked into small pieces
Wet ingredients
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs Buttermilk
- 1 egg
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400o. If you are using a pizza stone or cast iron pan preheat that also.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, turn your mixer on or use a whisk to blend them together.
Add the pieces of butter to the dry ingredients and turn your mixer on, or cut them in by hand.
In a glass measuring cup measure the buttermilk.
Add the egg to the buttermilk and whip with a fork until blended.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix very briefly – just until blended.
Plop the dough into or onto your pan. Don't mess with it to much, leave it craggy and not smooth. You can press it to the edges of your pan if needed. If you are making biscuits then you can just plop a ball of dough right on the pan, loosely formed.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 400o. For bread, turn the oven down to 350o and continue baking for another 15 minutes. For biscuits, test at 15 minutes to see if done, they may need a few more minutes. You will know it's done when it's golden brown, smells delicious and a knife comes out clean.
Notes
Irish soda bread requires soda to react with an acid like buttermilk to create the lift you get with yeast breads. Don’t skip this step! If you don’t have buttermilk you can add 1 tsp of lemon or vinegar to milk/yoghurt/sour cream – and let it set up about 5 minutes.
Psyllium husk powder works like a lucky charm in this recipe – it binds and helps with texture. If you don’t have any go get some! But it will be OK if not, just go ahead and replace it with another binder like 1 tsp xanthan gum or chia seeds.
You want a crusty craggy loaf with a nice crumb. Don’t try to overmix or smooth this batter – just let it be!
Approximate Nutritional Information**Calculated without any sweetener as whatever you use will vary widely. It’s optional, I like a little sweetness but it’s fine without it too!
Servings per recipe: 8
Calories: 300
Fat: 24 g
Sodium: 438 mg
Potassium 56 g
Total Carbs: 14.2 g
Fiber: 8 g
Protein: 10.5 g
That’s it! So Easy and Delicious. Gluten-Free Keto Irish Soda Bread.
Leave your questions in the comments, I promise to answer!
